Chapter 31: An Anxious Alpha Prince Hayden and Cory led the procession back to the village chief’s house. All around them were joyful cries. The vines continued to wither, thereby relinquishing their hold on villagers and leading to many a happy reunion. The villagers began to gather on either side of the long road to applaud the victorious group. Sprout was in his glee, dancing on Titan’s shoulder and waving to his new admirers. The Beta laughed at his tiny friend’s antics. The Twins waved politely at the happy villagers. Venom seemed somewhat saddened by the fact that the parasitic plants were wilting.“I really wanted to get a specimen,” he whispered in Cory’s ear. “But every clipping I take keeps withering and turning to dust. Look!” He said, showing her a blackened stem with dry leaves crumbling in his hand.“The Souco

Chapter 33: Grave   “Are you sure you weren’t having a nightmare?” Asked Hayden hesitantly. The Prince caressed his mate’s cheek gently. He trailed his fingertips along her neck down to her shoulders. He squeezed the muscles there. “You’re tense,” he whispered. Cory shut her eyes tightly. She had been afraid of this. “You don’t believe me,” she whispered. Hayden sighed. “I saw Leech with my own eyes. I buried him,” revealed the Alpha. Cory locked eyes with Hayden. She cupped his face in her hands, pleading with him with her eyes. “You have to believe me,” she said. “I reached for you, to wake you up, to show you, thinking you were next to me,” said Cory. Hayden took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “But you were gone,” said Cory so softly had the Prince not been an alpha, he would not have heard her. “I am sorry I did not wake you,” he murmured, ki

Chapter 35: Lynx’s Tale “Lynx!” Exclaimed Hayden, rushing forwards to grab his comrade by the shoulders, to make sure he was real.“We thought you were dead! Where have you been?!” Demanded the Prince.“Laying low,” Said Lynx, lowering his voice, returning to his typical volume.“Let’s talk about this inside,” suggested Titan softly as he put a hand on the Prince’s shoulder. The Beta tried to usher his comrades inside away from the prying eyes of the villagers.“Wait! Before we go, where’s Leech?!” Cried Cory, her eyes scanning the crowd.“You mean Venom,” said Titan.“You know what I mean,” said Cory, her anxiety level rising.“He’s probably long gone by now,” said Lynx. “Come on! Let’s go inside like Beta

Chapter 37: Les Bois   Papa Bois or Father Woods guarded a vast dense forest simply dubbed Les Bois or The Woods. The forest was teeming with life. Life bloomed, blossomed, chirped, sang, hopped, pranced, crawled, walked, ran, swam and soared in every nook and cranny of Les Bois. Cory had never seen woodlands so heavily populated by animals. The woodland creatures in Les Bois were also the bravest Cory had ever encountered. They feared no one and approached the group inquisitively, seemingly demanding to know what business they had in these woods.  The group was intent on heading to Maman Dlo’s River first and requesting that she summon Papa Bois since he was as elusive and enigmatic as one would expect a creature from legend to be. The woods were only a half day’s ride away from Zurie so Hayden had insisted they set out

Chapter 39: Red Herring   “What?!” Squealed Cory, her eyes widening as she got to her feet abruptly, her chest heaving. “What kind of task is it that someone has to die?!” She demanded, her eyes on the archaic guardian. “It is a task not of my choosing but of the will of the Bow,” said Papa Bois calmly. Titan exhaled loudly as though he doubted the protector of Les Bois. A small smile tugged at the corners of Papa’s mouth. He let his quiver of arrows fall to the forest floor with a soft thud. Cory sat back down slowly as her eyes trailed over the quiver. It had the same markings as the rock on which Papa sat and the Omniscient Oak. It was eerily quiet all of a sudden as he showed the travellers another case. The case was almost exactly the same as the quiver except for one distinct difference: the markings on this case burnt much brighter. They burnt so brightly Cory wondered if there was a fire